In the same family there may be a need for Grandparents rights in one or parts of the family but the other parts of the family are going pretty smoothly.
It is not uncommon to have, say in my case 6 grandchildren with 4 sets of parents. Two of those sets of parents are divorced and two are still together. Even though I work very hard at keeping the lines of communications open with each of my 8 children/step children there are many factors involved, ie. age, distance, remarriage, relationship in the family, etc.
You have your own sets of factors so your needs for knowing and/or asserting your Grandparent rights will vary also. Most of you reading this post will already have some deep and disturbing concerns about your relationship to one, some or all of your grandchildren. I think you will find some information that addresses your needs among our some 200 posts on this site. If not just drop us a comment and I will do my best to help.
The reason I have written this post is to remind each of you not to neglect the other relationships while you focus on the troubled ones. I will be so bold as to state that keeping the grandparent relationship healthy and happy is even more difficult than keeping a marriage healthy and happy, or at least as challenging. Much nurture and care is required for a multitude of reasons.
For our purposes here I will keep the focus narrow. The main goal is to create and maintain an atmosphere where we can support the parents in adding the maximum value and loving support to each and every grandchild. No matter the other externals it is our job to find a way to do just that. Not just in the troubled relationships but the healthy ones as well.
I would suggest you write this statement down in BIG BOLD letters and place it on the Fridge. “IT IS ALL ABOUT THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD.”
My hope for you is Great-Grandparenting. Grandpa NEIL
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